Office staff expected to spend over £40,000 on workplace costs

By Aimee Stanton

Whether it’s a quick coffee or chipping in for a colleague’s birthday present, office workers can expect to spend over £40,000 in a lifetime on workplace costs.

The research, commissioned by Nationwide, discovered that office workers will spend an average of £1,000 a year on workplace costs such as buying teas and coffees, Secret Santa presents and retirement gifts. With the average person working 40 years in their lifetime, this equates to £40,000 being spent.

The findings which surveyed 2,000 office workers across the UK, does not include the daily costs of lunches and commuting to work. Had these factors also been taken into account the average worker would spend considerably more than just £40,000 in their lifetime.

Pressured into spending

Not all office workers are happy to share the costs though. Two-fifths (42 per cent) of men admitted to feeling unhappy about spending money at Christmas parties, compared with over a third (34 per cent) of women.

The Christmas party is another costly event for workers and 20 per cent of women admitted to feeling pressured into spending money at the Christmas party whereas only 12 per cent of men felt pressured.

Workers are also feeling reluctant to share their hard earned cash with gifts for colleagues too as 28 per cent felt pressured into contributing towards a birthday gift and 27 per cent felt the same for leaving presents.

Charity requests don’t go down well with colleagues either as nearly a third (32 per cent) said they felt pressured into contributing money to colleagues charity fundraising efforts.

Expensive business

“Working in an office can be an expensive business, especially in big teams,” explains Alan Oliver, Nationwide’s head of external affairs.

“While most people value the camaraderie of working in a team, birthdays, retirements and charity fundraisers can take their toll on our wallets and purses,” Alan adds.